A FORTUNE IN FURY: THE SECRET TRILLIONAIRE HEIR

Chapter 6

The statement hit Adrian like a sledgehammer and he stumbled back a few feet on legs made rubbery by that revelation. 

But then it couldn't be true. None of this was true. “You're wrong, Anthony,” Adrian said, even though he knew Anthony was never wrong about many things. “I'm not Sir Brooks' son, how could that even be true?”

Anthony pierced him with a look so full of secrets and meaning. “I have not brought you here without proof or reason. I will explain to you.”

Adrian's throat was tight with a feeling he couldn't describe. He waited for Anthony. 

Anthony went to the buffet unit and pulled out a drawer, he removed documents from it and handed it over to Adrian. 

Adrian's eyes read it over. DNA test results that proved he was a match to Sir Brooks. His head was reeling. His mother had always told him his father was dead.

“But…but how?” Adrian asked, still holding the documents and looking down at them in disbelief. 

“About the how, I certainly can't tell you. Your mother would explain to you well enough herself, since Sir Brooks currently is not on speaking terms with anyone,” Anthony said, showing his first drop of humor perhaps to lighten the mood. 

But Adrian wasn't finding anything funny at all. He was still reeling. 

“And how is Sir Brooks still alive, but we're making funeral arrangements back at the house? And his entire family, they all believe he's dead.” Adrian's eyes widened. This was a secret, and he was a part of it.

Anthony nodded as he saw the look on his face. “Exactly, Young Master. You are one of the precious little few that knows what is the case with Sir Brooks. Never utter the words Sir Brooks and alive in the same sentence.”

“Sir Brooks has to be believed dead. It is for his own good and for the good of the family as well. For all of you,”

Adrian shook his head adamantly. “Stop it with the young master bullshit. And so what if I am his son? He has other sons, do they also know about this? Why just me? And why do you call me young master when I have never heard you refer to Raymond or Lazaro that way.”

Anthony didn't hesitate with his reply. “Because you are the only Successor to Brooks Castle and Castle, Adrian. You are master, you are everyone's master, here and back at the Brooks Mansion.”

Adrian breathed in sharply. He couldn't imagine that much power in his hands. But he was not a man without ambition. He had often wondered what it would be like to be one of the Brooks children, become one of the heirs. 

Now he wasn't just Brooks himself, but the successor. 

He accessed Anthony. “Why am I the heir, Anthony? And not any of the others…Brooks? Why would I be chosen? They will not like this. And how are we acting as if Sir Brooks is dead, when he still—”

"Don't say it, Young Master. Get used to the fact that he is dead to everyone outside this room and to me and you once we leave this room. I have brought you here so you will fully understand the severity of the situation.”

Anthony motioned towards the couches and armchair by the corner with the little coffee table in the middle for them to sit. Adrian knew whatever else was coming was more than serious. 

Adrian took one couch and sat on it while Anthony sat on the armchair facing him. His polished Italian loafers shined as he crossed one leg over the other one. 

“Sir Brooke made a will after he found out you were his son, that was before he fell ill, Adrian. You have to understand that he very much knew his kids were mostly spoiled and incompetent,” Anthony said this with a straight face, showing that he knew this. 

“They were reckless, horrible at managing the company resources and so much into extravagant lifestyles that their mother supported and Sir Brooks was expected to fund.”

“He made his will then knowing who you were, having believed in your capabilities and ability to do what was best for the company. He often told me he was glad he wasn't the one who had raised you. He feels guilty for the way they turned out and the will was his way to rectify it.”

Adrian quite understood what he was saying and he sympathized, but how was he the best candidate? He had stopped school after high school and that was all the knowledge he had. “Surely you wouldn't accept me to run Brooks Castle and Castle? Come on, it's a…it's a multi billion dollar empire.”

Anthony laughed. “We're talking trillions, Adrian.”

Adrian just gaped at him. 

“I will help you. In fact he made sure that I would always be here to assist you if need be. No one would know at first, until you were ready.”

Those words were not so clear to Adrian. He looked towards the bed, at where Sir Brooks currently lay, on a lifeline. 

“You have to stand up for your father at this critical moment, Adrian.”

It felt weird to hear Sir Brooks being called his father, even though that was what Adrian often imagined him as. 

“You have to, Adrian. Because the truth is that Sir Brooks is lying on that bed, because he was poisoned.”

“Someone is after the Brooks family.”